N-peters



dilated gitanas emr new JOHN ASHWORTH, 0F NORTH ANDOVE'R, MASSACHUSETTS.

Lette'rs Patent No. 100,249, dated Mft/rch l, 1870.

STEAM TRAP.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent. and making part of the same.

vmO- I,JOHN ASHWORTH, of North Andover, in the county of Essex, vand vStat-e of Massachusetts, have invented a new and usefulSteam Trap for discharging the waterfrom steam-pipes, ot' which the following, with the accompanying drawings, is a speciica- .terpoised chamber, .so that the valve may be worked by a small application of power thereto, and also without producing friction that would interfere with the free workingof the apparatus, and consists in the combination of the discharging valve opening inward, Vand a lever for operating the same, attached to the movable chamber, and applied to that part of the valve which is outside of its ground joint, and a fixed stop or fulcrum for the lever, all sol arranged that a small preponderance of thechamber will open the valve,-

and the friction and corresponding resistance duel to they transmission of the power through a stuiiing-box is avoided.

My invention relates, in the second place to the arrangement of the movable chamberand the flexible pipe, by which the chamber communicates with the steam space 'to be drained, and counterpoise, so that when the apparatus is not in use the outlet-valve of the chamber will stand open to permit the. entire escape of the water, and aii'ord free communication with the air, and consists in so combining 'the flexiblev pipe, the chamber, and the lever of the-counterpoise, that by the expansion and contraction of the pipe by the heat of the steam, the leverage of the counterpoise in itsrelation tothe chamber' will be so changed that when the pipe is'hot the counterpoise will raise the chamber, if empty, and when the pipe is cold the vcounterpoise will not raise-the chamber, as will be described.

Description.

In the drawings- Figures 5 and Gare details of the same.

A is a closed chamber 'of metalic receive the water of condensation, which is attached to the end ofthe horizontal pipe B, which connects the space to be drained.

The pipe B is made iiexiblein a vertical direction, which is provided for in the-drawing by a swivel-joint,

.15', but in practice, vwhen it is convenient, it is preferred to use a suticient length of the pipe B, so that the lexure ofthe pipeitself will permit the necessary A y vertical movement of the chamber, and will also act more readily by its expansiony and contraction to change .the relation of the chamber to thc counter'- poise C, as will be described.

The countcrpoise is suspended to the long arm of the lever D, which has a fixed fulcrum at E, and upon the short armof the lever the chamber A is vsupported by the standard F, which is fixed to the chamber.

vG is a small arm attached to th'e chamber A, the

outer end of which works freely in a slot in the lfixed piece H, and serves to limit the extent of vertical movement ofthe chamber. A

I is the escape-valve, which is attached tothe lowest part of the chamber, asfshowmand opens inward rwhen the chamber descends, by means ofthe lever J,

which has a movable ulcrum at K on the body of the valve, and a fixed fulcrum at L, working in a slot in the end 'of the lever J, as shown. the lever depresses the stem 1 of the valve I when the chamber descends, and the Valve is raised again when the chamber is raised bythe helical spring N around its spindle, and the pressure of the steam.

M is a vacuum-valve, opening inward to prevent the formation of a vacuum inside the chamber when the steam is shut olf. Fig. 4 represents the lower part of a chamber, made of acylindrical form, with the outlet-valve I arranged to work with a lever, J, placed 1 beneath, as is shown.

O is 'a cup attached to the valve-spindle, to receive the water discharged from the valve, and conductit toone side to prevent it from falling upon the lever and its connections. Thiscup is shown in plan in iig. 6. Fig. 5 shows ahorizontal section of the valve-seat. This modification of the apparatus is better adapted to be used where there is danger of freezing, as when it is not in use, and standing with the valve open, there is no part of 'the same where Water could collect, and endanger or obstruct it by freezing.

The operation of the apparatus is this: When the steam is let on and the pipe `B is hot, the weight and leverage of the counterpoise C is -so adjusted to the chamber A, that when the chamber is lnearly empty it will he raised. When a quantity of water'has accumulated by the drainage from. the pipe B, its weight with the chamber, prepouderates over The short arm of i the counterpoisc and the chamber falls, and by that operation opens the discharge-valvecI, and allows the v -pressure of the steam upon the valve, to raise it and close the outlet-valve in an obvious manner. When the stealnvis shut ofi' thepipe B cools and contracts in length, which draws the chamber with the standard F away from the fulcrum E of the lever 1 the standard sliding along on the lever, which makes the short arm of the lever D longer, so that the empty chamber A will then preponderate and keep the outlet-valve I open, affording free communication from the interior to the external air, and escape for any water that may drain into it. When the steam is let on the pipe again becomes hot and expands, and again restores the rela- 'tion betweenth'e counterpoise, lever, and chamber first mentioned. Thus, the weight `ot` the accumulated water is made to operatevthe apparatus, and all internal mechanism is avoided, and the expansion and coutraction ofthe connecting pipe, by means oi' the heat of the apparatus, is made to adjust it to the conditions of work orrest withoutmanual intervention.

I am aware that a steam-trap has been heretofore devised in which the discharge-valve was opened and closed by the rising and falling of counterpoised chainber, that received the wat-er of condensation, but in such case the valve was so arranged that the water was discharged from the top of the chamber by the pressure of the steam, and could not empty the chamber by drainage, so that when the pressure of the steam was removed the chamber could not be emptied; and it was also necessary to work the valve-spindle through a stntlng-box. But by my construct-ion both of these difculties are avoided.

What I claim as my invention is- 1. The combination, with the movable chamber, of the discharge-valve placed at the bottom Iof the same, the lever for operating the valve, and the xed stop or fule'rum for the lever, all (zo-operating substantially as descn'b'ed.

2. The combination of the movable chamber and its accessories for discharging the condensed water, and the counterpoise and its accessories, and the flexible pipe that 'connects the space? to he drained with said chamber in such a manner that by the heating and cooling of the pipe, or some other part of the apparatus that will produce the same result, the expansion and contraction thereby produced will so change the relative preponderance of the counterpoise and chamber as to adapt the apparatus to the conditions of work and rest, substantially as described.

. JOHN ASHWORTH.

Witnesses:

DANA B. Hanson, G. E. WHITNEY. 

